Conduit construction



'Jpne 18, 1935. M. L. SPACKMAN 'CONDUIIT CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 12.1931 Patented June 18, 1935 UNITED STATES.

7 2,005,701 I CONDUIT CONSTRUCTION Morton L. Spackman, Cleveland, Ohio,assignor to The Ric-wiL Company, Cleveland, Ohio,

a corporation of Ohio Application August 12, 1931, Serial No. 556,630

14' Claims. (CL 137--75 This invention relates to conduit constructionand is particularly useful for use in conjunction with underground pipessuch as are used in the transmission of steam, waterand other fluidmaterials.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved construction whichmay'convementlybe used with'subterranean lines.

Another object is to provide an improved construction which willefiiciently support underground pipes.

Another object is to provide an improved construction unit which mayeasily be formed of ceramic material.

Another object is to provide an improved construction unit which whenmade of ceramic material will. be relatively free from deformationduring manufacturing or firing.

Other objects will hereinafterv appear.

This invention constitutes an improvement upon the inventions disclosedin the patent to Christian Gottwald, Number 1,681,731, issued August 21,1928. r w

The invention will be better understood from the description of onepractical embodiment thereof, illustrated in the accompanying drawing,in which:

Figure l is a cross-sectional view of a completed conduit systemembodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a single unit or section of tile usedin constructing the base drain of Figure 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an older form of base drain and someassociated parts, and Figures 4 and 5 are, respectively, a perspectiveview and cross-sectional view of the base drain of Figures 1 and 2 withpipe supporting means positioned thereon.

As'shown'in Figures 1, 2, 4 and 5, the base drain'consists of a row ofhollow tiles, each having a flat bottom web orbase I inwardly inclinedsides 2, and a concave top 3. Upon the outer surfacesv of the sides 2are projections having their tops formed into substantially horizontalshoulders 4, while at the juncture of the sides with the top are formedbead-like ridges 5 by which the shell surrounding the fluid conveyingpipe is supported.

The central portion of the tile is cut away, as indicated at 6 fromabout the level of the shoulders 4 upwardly, the space so provided beingadapted to receive the belied ends of the shell sections.

The shell or casing consists :of cylindrical tiles split longitudinallyinto upper and lower halves 1 and 8, respectively, and provided adjacentthe split portion with flanges 9 forming grooves for the reception ofcement or other sealing material.

Centrally of the casing is arranged a steam or water pipe it! supportedupon brackets, as most. clearly indicated in Figure I. Each bracketcon-: sists of a transverse vertically arranged web H which may beplaced between the upper ends of.

consecutive base drain tiles, this web being provided at its ends withflanges 12 parallel to the sides of the tile, and with horizontalflanges 13. The upper portion of the web I i has formed upon itcradle-like bearing members MWhich support a roller l5 having trunnions16 arranged to roll in notches I! in the upper edges of the members l4.Web, H extends through a hole in shell sec-.

tion8;

The pipe I0 rests upon the rollers 15, and by them is supported so thatit may slide slightly within the casing to allow for expansion andcontraction. Between the-shell and pipe 10 is placed heatinsulatingmaterial which may be either a covering-applied to the exterior, of thepipeor to the interior of the shell, or a filling of more or lessloosely associated material.

Heretoforelthe base drain tiles have been made as shown in Figure 3having straight inclined sides I02 which were embraced by the flanges l2and thus supported the roller carrying brackets. It will be obvious,particularly from Figure 3, that any variations in the width of a basedrain would be reflected in a much greater variation in the heightof'the top of roller 15 from the bottom IOI of the base drain; also thatthe weight supported by the roller was transmitted substantiallynormally to the sides we, tending to collapse these sides and placingthe flange l I under a tensile strain: As this flange and its associatedparts are most conveniently made of cast iron, this condition wasextremely undesirable, as the cast iron is weakest in tension, and thehollow tile was subjected to forces which induced bending stresses inits sides.

It has therefore been necessary in some installations using the tile andbase drain of- Figure 3 to support flanges. 13 upon concrete or thelike, increasing the labor and expense in'installing this system, and ithas also at timesbeen necessaryto grind ofi flanges l2 and flt the sup?porting brackets tothe base drain tiles to bring rollers 15 inalignment. i

From Figures 4 and 5, it will beseen that with the improved form of thisdrain, flanges l3 rest on shoulders 4, so that the metal of the bracketis undercompression rather than tension and exactly the amount of suchvariations.

Another advantage of this form of base drain provided with shoulders isthat the distribution of the clay or the like'of which, the tile isformed is substantially symmetrical with respectto ahorizontal planehalf .way from the bottom of base I and the top of ribs 5. That is, thecrosssectional area of the clay above this plane is sub-.

stantially equal to that below the .plane.. As

these tiles areformed by being extruded through dies, this symmetricaldistribution of material permits the extrusion of the material at auniform rate at both the topand bottom of this section much'mo're easilythan with the sections illustrated in Figure 3. .Moreover, when theolder types of sections were fired, they exhibited a great tendency tobend and warp, as the-top of the section, being'smaller in extent, driedmore quickly than the bottom, whereas with the improved tile,dryingtakes place substantially uniformly and distortion isgreatly reduced.'Probably the prevention. of distortion is also aided by thestrengthening imparted to the sides by the thickened portions formingtheshoulders. 4.

As the sides of the bracket'do not have to engage the sides of the tile,liberal tolerances between tile and brackets may be allowed, so thatvariations in the width of. either the tile or bracket will beprovided'for. 1

Moreover, the strengthening ofthe sides of the tile prevents thedistortion of its ends. It is the practice to apply a board or the liketooneiend of a tile section as it leaves the die and then stand the tileon end upon the board; the tile remain-.

inginthis position during firing. Both the im'- pact of the board andthe weight of the tile tend to upset or expand the clay of the lowerendfand these tendencies are to a large extent overcome by the increasedstrength of the sides. WhileI have described the illustrated embodimentof my invention in some particularity, ob-

viously many others will readily occur to those skilled in this art andI therefore do notlimit myself to the precise detailsshown and describedherein but claim as my invention all embodiments, modifications andvariations coming within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: J i

1. A base drain comprising a series of tiles each being an integralpiece having two pair of ribs, one pair along its top, and the otherpair along its sides.

'2'. A one-piece tubular tile of substantially quadrilateralcross-section, one base'b'eing shorter than i the other and the sidesbeing thicker throughout a portion of their height than the bases, theupper edges of said thickened portion constituting supporting shoulders.

3. .A one-piece tubular tile of substantially trapezoidal cross-section,the shorter'base of which has twoprojecting parallel ribs and the sidesof which have outwardly projecting ribs adjacent said base and'taperingto adjacent the other base.

- 4. A one-piece tubular tile of substantia y trapezoidal cross-section,the shorter base of which has two projecting parallel ribs and the sidesof which have outwardly projecting ribs adjacent said base and taperingto adjacent the other base, the tile being recessed for a portion of itsextent, and the recess extending from the shorter base to said ribs uponthe sides.

5. A one-piece tubular tile of'substantially trapezoidal cross-section,the upper base of which is the shorter and has upwardly projectingparallel ribs, and the sides of whichliave upwardly projecting taperingribs which are thickest adjacent the upper base. 7,

6. A one-piece tubular tile of substantially trapezoidal cross-section,the upper base of which is the shorter'and has upwardly projectingparallel ribs, and the sides of which have upwardly projecting taperingribs which are thickest adjacent the upper base andterminate in,

substantially horizontal shoulders.

,7. In combination, a series of hollow. trape-' zoidal prismaticone-piece tiles open at the ends and arranged end to end, each tilehaving, pro-- jecting ribs formed along its sides and provided withsubstantially horizontal surfaces, at 'plu-r rality of supportingbrackets each having feet resting upon said surfaces of twoadjacenttiles,

and a fluid conducting conduit supported by said brackets.

.8. In combination, a series of hollow. trapezoidalprismatic one-piecetiles open at the endsand arranged end to end, 'each tile havingprojecting ribs formed along its sides and provided vwith substantiallyhorizontal surfaces, and ribs formed along its top, a plurality ofsupporting brackets each having feet resting upon said sur-v facesof twoadjacent tiles, a fluid conducting conduit supported by said brackets,and a casing surrounding said conduit and supported by the ribs alongthe tops of the tiles.

'9. In combination, a series of hollow trape-- zoidal prismaticone-piece tilesopen at the ends and arranged end to end, each tilehaving projecting ribs formed along its sides, 'a plurality of bracketseach positioned at the ends of successive tilesand having rigidlyconnected feet resting upon the upper surface of said. ribs,supportingmeans associated with each bracket intermediate said feet, anda fluid conductingconduit carried by said supporting means.

10. In combination, a series of hollow trape zoidal prismatic one-piecetiles open at the ends and arranged end to end, each tile having projecting ribs formed along its sides, an" integral bracket having feetresting upon the top surfaces of the ribs on opposite sides of thetiles,

supporting means on said bracket intermediate said feet, and a conduitcarried by said supporting means. v

11. In combination, a. series of hollow trapezoidal prismatic one-piecetiles open at the ends and arranged end to end, each tile havingprojecting ribs formed along its sides, an integral bracket having feetresting upon the top surfaces of the ribs on opposite sides of the tilesand supporting means intermediate said feet, a casing surrounding andsupported directly on the tops of the tiles, and a conduit within saidcasing carried by said supporting means.

12. In combination, a series of hollow trapezoidal prismatic one-piecetiles open at the ends feet being spaced apart slightly more than theWidth of the portion of the tiles between them, supporting means on saidbracket intermediate said feet, and a conduit carried by saidsupportting means.

13. In combination, a series of hollow trapezoidal prismatic one-piecetiles open at the ends and arranged end to end, each tile havingprojecting ribs formed along its sides, an integral bracket having feetresting upon the top surfaces of the ribs on opposite sides of the tilesand loosely embracing the sides of the tiles, and. supporting meansintermediate said feet, a casing surrounding and supported directly onthe tops of the tiles, and a conduit within said casing carried by saidsupporting means.

14. In combination, a series of hollow trapezoidal prismatic one-piecetiles open at the ends and arranged end to end, each tile havingprojecting ribs formed along its sides, an integral bracket having feetresting upon the top surfaces of the ribs on opposite sides of thetiles, the feet being spaced apart slightly more than the width of theportion of the tiles between them, anti-friction supporting means onsaid bracket intermediate said feet, and a conduit carried by saidsupporting means.

MORTON L. SPACKMAN.

